Why social media is banned in China

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Digital censorship in China, widely
referred to as The Great
Firewall of China, is alive and strong. In the 2015 World
Internet Conference in Wuzhen, China, Pres. Xi Jinping raised his
concept of a country’s internet sovereignty, in effect warning
other nations that he would brook no interference from them regarding
his laws on cyber regulations.

Hence, foreign social media has zero
presence in China. For us not living there, it’s inconceivable to
live a normal life without Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest
and all the other social networks. But interestingly, and contrary to
the Western world’s assumption, the Chinese people (except for the
few radicals, which all countries have anyway) are not up in arms
against the social media ban. After all, they have their alternatives
to ours – Weibo, WeChat, QQ, Youku and other sites that have
similar, or even better, features.

It’s the foreigners travelling to
China, as tourists, for work, or other purposes, who have to suffer
the burden of not being able to access their social media accounts,
messaging apps and even search engines like Google and Duck Duck Go.
A VPN comes in handy. Still, use with care. Avoid talking about
political issues or posting pictures of your cat. Don’t use free
VPNs – they have very poor security and privacy. Stay away from
China VPNs – they’re sure to be monitored closely. If you need to
download files or torrents, check out the 5
Best VPN Services for Torrenting – Bitcoin Accepted [New Guide
2019].

Xi’s internet controllers don’t
feel bound to explain or give their reasons for the social media ban.
We can only speculate. Here are some points of view gathered from
aspiring political theorists:

Why Western social media is banned in
China

1. China takes the solidarity of its
citizens very seriously and Western influence is seen as a threat to
its cohesiveness. Having access to Facebook, et al will make them
aware of life on the other side and cause an uprising. All these will
bring divisiveness.

2. Pres. Xi is intent on maintaining
his form of value system, an alternative to democracy and the freedom
linked with it. He has this valid fear that allowing Western social
media and its anti-China propagandists into the communist country
will incite its citizens to seek liberation from its bondage.

3. China’s trade industry and
businessmen must be protected. Social media allows its users to learn
about different products and purchase them. Pres. Xi wants to keep Chinese
commerce in its country, and its economy circulating among
Chinese business and consumers. So Jack Ma can sell through Alibaba
to any country, but Chinese customers can only patronize their
countrymen’s businesses.

4. China has to protect its data from
being accessible to and used by foreign entities. Everyone knows
that, in spite of GDPR and other privacy policies, Google, Facebook,
and maybe other tech companies mine data for all kinds of purposes.
Allowing them into China will potentially expose all Chinese users to
data breach. They will receive targeted ads, get personalized
experiences, and worst, be recruited as spies, which is what China
has been doing all these years.

5. China’s goal is to be the top in
the tech industry. Presumably, it’s working on being the first and
best in the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, robotics and
big data. Allowing Western social media into the country is
tantamount to giving them permission to steal their tech secrets. It
doesn’t matter that China hacks into foreign schools and
corporations to steal data, trade secrets and intellectual property.

6. Pres. Xi still harbors a festering
grudge against Mark Zuckerberg. He believes that Facebook was the
communication tool used by the independence activists that instigated
the 2009 Urumqi riots in Xinjiang province. Zuckerberg was not
cooperative with the Chinese government and refused to divulge
information. Hence, the Facebook ban that has never been lifted.

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